Reimagining Bank Marketing for a New Era

Jim Marous (00:12):

Welcome to another episode of Banking Transformed, the podcast that dives deep into the trends, innovations, and strategies shaping the future of banking. I'm your host, Jim Marous, owner, and CEO of the Digital Banking Report and co-publisher of The Financial Brand.

Jim Marous (00:27):

In today's episode, our guest is Nicole Zimmermann, founder and CEO of ZELOCIN & Partners, a marketing communications consultancy. Nicole will share her insights on how legacy banking organizations can best assess their current branding, marketplace messaging and marketing execution to move from the past to the present and hopefully to the future.

Jim Marous (00:50):

She will also discuss the importance of leveraging customer data and analytics to provide personalized communication and experiences, and to impact the long-term loyalty of the customer base.

Jim Marous (01:01):

Finally, Nicole shares her expert insights on assessing current marketing efforts, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing effective strategies to bridge the gap between the past and the future. Many financial institutions are still leveraging the same marketing tools and strategies they have used for decades, this is really no longer effective.

Jim Marous (01:24):

More than ever customer analytics, new marketing technologies and closed loop customer management skills are required to enable financial institution marketers to harness the power of data-driven insights to support brand and product marketing initiatives.

Jim Marous (01:41):

So, Nicole, before we dig into what's happening at ZELOCIN & Partners, can you share a little bit about your background and what has led to the founding of your agency?

Nicole Zimmermann (01:50):

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me, Jim, today. I'm very excited to share that with your audience. So, I grew up in Germany. My background in financial services and telecommunication started in Europe with working for Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile on their international expansion as the head of customer relationship management.

Nicole Zimmermann (02:15):

And then after 14 years, I felt for something new that I wanted to pursue and changed actually industries from telecommunication into financial services. I joined Western Union as their head of marketing for Europe, Russia, and CIS and through my regional work, I got the opportunity at one point in 2011 to actually get into a global marketing role here in Denver, Colorado, where Western Union has its global headquarter.

Nicole Zimmermann (02:48):

And after 25 years of corporate, I felt at one point during the pandemic that it might be actually a great opportunity to take my skillset and background in accounting, marketing, and digital transformation out into the world across more brands and help more companies to really find their growth trajectory with the expertise in international marketing.

Nicole Zimmermann (03:14):

I thought there is a huge opportunity, as global trade and international expansions are usually on all or most of the company's agenda at one point in time.

Jim Marous (03:27):

So, your firm is about to release a white paper that really emphasize the importance of banks and other financial service providers to leverage customer data and analytics and provide personalized experience and also build long-term loyalty.

Jim Marous (03:41):

And this is obviously a topic that's really key for every financial institution right now. So, what are some of the key challenges that you saw financial institutions facing to effectively harness customer data? How can they overcome these obstacles as well?

Nicole Zimmermann (03:55):

So, our white paper actually examines how the brand loyalty actually has to change into more of a customer centric approach for banks and financial institutions.

Nicole Zimmermann (04:10):

And what we have seen in our research is that especially the mid-tier banks and financial institutions, not only in the United States, but also in Europe, are really struggling with finding their way of staying competitive and relevant with all the neobanks and the digital players coming into the industry and into the space.

Nicole Zimmermann (04:32):

And so, we thought we are going to do a deep dive into understanding how banks, especially also given the new regulations with open banking and PSD2 in Europe and in the United States, to really figure out, what does customer relationship mean when you think about the future of banks and financial institutions.

Nicole Zimmermann (04:57):

So, our white paper examines really in depth why customer data is actually the key to understanding what your customers need, how their behaviors have changed, how you potentially get into new customer segments that you will need because you will not live off your existing customer base forever.

Nicole Zimmermann (05:20):

And so, in the white paper, we are analyzing and giving actually insights into the solutions that we provide to support banks and financial institutions to combat this challenge.

Jim Marous (05:33):

Well, so it's interesting because there's not a financial institution out there that doesn't understand that data analytics are the key to driving forward a personalized experience and better customer loyalty.

Jim Marous (05:45):

Why are they so hampered in being able to actually take the data they have and deploy it in a way that you're speaking of it. It seems like we lose something between getting the data, getting the analytics, and actually making it usable and deploy it.

Nicole Zimmermann (06:04):

Yes, absolutely. That's a great point, Jim. I think the biggest challenge … and I worked for Western Union, that's a legacy brand with 176 years of operations across the world and what you have is you look at really legacy systems across different departments that all in a certain way interact either directly with a customer from a front-end perspective or in the backend. And a lot of this data is not connected to create what we call a 360 view of the customer.

Nicole Zimmermann (06:42):

So, the challenge is that, yes, your sales and marketing team are probably the closest to customers and have a lot of customer information, but still in the backend, there is a lot of good information available and data available of how customers go through their journey by using the bank's products and services, and the connectivity of these data points and touch points is really the most important thing.

Nicole Zimmermann (07:10):

And that's where I would say the challenges are really in the mid-tier banks where you are looking at a lot of legacy systems and legacy technology still. And while this is not a technology game, but it is just the untapped potential of customer data that sits out there, and that through a customer master database you could bring together and really create that holistic view of a customer.

Jim Marous (07:39):

So, it's interesting, I think probably every podcast and every presentation I do, I mentioned some analogy to a GPS system. But it's interesting because when firms are trying to assess where they need to go with their marketing efforts, when they determine where is their end point, they have to understand more about where they are today.

Jim Marous (08:03):

How can financial institutions really effectively assess their current marketing efforts to identify areas in need of improvement? How do you do that self-assessment of an organization's marketing efforts?

Nicole Zimmermann (08:17):

That's a great point. And as I said, Jim, it's not only about marketing, it's actually bringing the information together. You might have your marketing team lead those efforts because they are usually together with a sales team or the tellers in the bank, the ones that are the closest to the customer.

Nicole Zimmermann (08:34):

But at the end of the day, the way of how we support banks and financial institutions, it's really at the beginning to do a deep dive into the current state assessment as we call it. We do a lot of research related to the external environment of the bank.

Nicole Zimmermann (08:52):

If it is a regional bank, a national bank or an international bank, we understand their competitive environment, we understand their customer segments. Do they know actually all of their customer segments? Do they know the buying personas behind the customer segments? Can they articulate that clearly?

Nicole Zimmermann (09:12):

And at the end of the day, with that research and analysis, we go into a multi-day workshop with the client and really help them understand what's working and what's not working, and where are actually the gaps of what they do not know about their customers.

Nicole Zimmermann (09:30):

Especially, as I said, new customer segments, if they need to grow through the means of finding and acquiring new customers, what does that look like? Can they articulate again clearly what type of segments those are? And then from there, we help them actually define what the future desired status.

Nicole Zimmermann (09:50):

So, to stay relevant in the market, to stay competitive, to be a choice amongst many, many options that customers have, how are you actually articulating what your five-year outlook strategy is? What is your 10-year outlook strategy? Are you having a specific growth target?

Nicole Zimmermann (10:10):

Are you having a specific digital transformation target? What is the ultimate goal of staying relevant in the market? And then from there, we actually do a gap analysis between the current state and the future desired state.

Nicole Zimmermann (10:25):

And it's usually eye-opening for clients to go through this exercise and say, "Wow. I mean, there are so many things that we potentially could do that we have not had on our radar. And we had no transparency about it. We did not know. And we also were not really aware that things, some things are working better than others, and maybe we down on the things that are working."

Nicole Zimmermann (10:49):

And so, with that gap analysis, you usually have then an improvement roadmap as we call it, to hand over and allow the banks really with their teams to implement in each team is accountable for the improvements in their specific areas.

Jim Marous (11:06):

You visit a number of financial institutions; you do a lot of pitches that they say in the agency world. Is there any consistent gap that you're seeing in the financial services industry where you say, "You know what, it seems like every financial institution really struggles in this area." What would that area be?

Nicole Zimmermann (11:24):

I would say really understanding the customer journey end-to-end. So, really from the beginning of how your brand is coming across from a brand positioning perspective in the market compared to your competitors, how and why are customers choosing you over other brands?

Nicole Zimmermann (11:43):

And then really all the way down to whatever service or product a customer is actually signing up for from the bank to the end of developing even more products and more services for those customers and to retain them and to really keep them loyal to the brand.

Nicole Zimmermann (12:02):

So, I think that holistic end-to-end view is the biggest challenge because I think that you need really intentionally to sit down and actually document all the steps in the customer journey. And I think not a lot of institutions really do that.

Nicole Zimmermann (12:21):

And so, with that lack of understanding, then you don't know what data falls in which phase of your customer journey. So, then you are limiting yourself in terms of what you can really learn about your existing customer data and customer insights that you sit on.

Nicole Zimmermann (12:39):

If you are not connecting them along the journey, then you can't conclude of what are actually the best things to do. Do I need a new product? Do I need to double down on what I have, and I just need to get into new communication channels or sales channels?

Nicole Zimmermann (12:55):

Do I need more direct sales? Can I do more online sales? How can I actually design my go-to market strategy in a way that is based on this insights and understanding? And I think that's probably the biggest challenge that they are facing.

Jim Marous (13:14):

So, it's interesting, when we're doing research, we're finding that in many cases the organizations that are the best able to accept change are the largest organizations. Because in some ways they had the financial wherewithal to really change things just by muscle more than anything else. But we’re also seeing a lot of smaller institutions doing some exciting things.

Jim Marous (13:36):

So, with so many digital first competitors in marketplace and with the threat of not just fintechs, but even non-financial institutions being out there, what do you see as a way that smaller organizations can keep on top of what's needs to be done? And what strategy and capabilities do you see smaller, mid-size organizations that they need to develop to stay competitive?

Nicole Zimmermann (14:01):

That's a great question. I mean, there is not one silver bullet, unfortunately. There are different path towards success and staying competitive in the market. So, I think what I have seen in the financial service industry, specifically with the small mid-tier financial institutions, is they are intentionally looking for a chief customer officer or a chief growth officer or chief revenue officer.

Nicole Zimmermann (14:33):

The title doesn't matter so much as more as the meaning of what that role is then all about, which is actually really looking into how are you connecting these dots across the customer journey, understanding really the customer lifecycle and making sure that the corporate strategy is really aligned so that across the entire bank's organization, all departments are pulling towards one goal and into one direction. And I think that is one element.

Nicole Zimmermann (15:05):

The other element, obviously, is to hire someone like myself and our company to come in and do the assessment with the bank together, understand what the gaps are, provide a solid roadmap for improvement, and help them also with the change management.

Nicole Zimmermann (15:24):

I have worked at Western Union in the transformation office for many years, and I've gone through the change management approach that we have taken for over six years into the entire organization globally.

Nicole Zimmermann (15:39):

And it's important to make sure that you are not only facing on looking at the customer experience, but you also look at your employee engagement and your employee experience during this time of transformation and change because your employees are the ones that know the customers the best.

Nicole Zimmermann (16:00):

They are the closest to the voice of the customer, and they are the ones that have a lot of ideas and understanding of what's working and what's not working and how to improve things.

Nicole Zimmermann (16:10):

And if you connect really one corporate strategy with the goal to be more customer centric and develop that very precise customer experience improvement, and you bring your employees along on this journey from a change management perspective, that's when you are set up for success.

Nicole Zimmermann (16:31):

And that's how Western Union stayed relevant even as very early on in the fintech boom in 2011, some of the analysts told our CEO that they don't see how Western Union can survive that, because the retail footprint was so large across the world that they had a hard time belief that you can digitally transform a legacy brand like that.

Nicole Zimmermann (16:56):

But we did it. And I think that speaks to the potential that you have. You have the opportunity really when you connect it properly across strategy, customer experience, and employee engagement, that you will be able to succeed in your transformation.

Jim Marous (17:16):

So, is there any advantage that smaller institutions have in that whole transformation journey, marketing transformation? Is there anything that they almost have an advantage over the large firms with?

Nicole Zimmermann (17:27):

I think so. Because when you think about it, they can operate actually much faster and much agile because they don't have the huge operational environment to work through. I think that is one of the biggest opportunities they have.

Nicole Zimmermann (17:46):

If they really think through how agile they could approach this, and how fast they could move actually with short decision ways, with empowering people to really take on the change and drive the change and become those change agents and transformers in the organization.

Nicole Zimmermann (18:07):

I think they will go through a digital transformation much faster than the large fortune 500, fortune 100 companies, where you need to take the entire organization on this journey. And if you have 5,000, 10,000 employees, that takes time.

Nicole Zimmermann (18:24):

The transformation at Western Union took nearly from start to where it is today, over six to eight years. Smaller organizations can do that much faster. They don't have that baggage, so to say in the organization.

Jim Marous (18:45):

So, with that in mind, some of the differences between the bigger organization and the small organizations is not the access to technology, but the ability to actually fund that technology. So, what role does the new marketing, the new modern marketing technology have in transforming the bank marketing strategy?

Jim Marous (19:06):

And how can legacy financial institutions with many legacy advertising marketing leaders actually leverage these tools? What tools do you find that are the must haves versus the like to haves?

Nicole Zimmermann (19:22):

So, I would say the most important thing is probably really that centric customer database. So, a master database where all the information are collectively coming together, I think that's a starting point.

Nicole Zimmermann (19:39):

Because it actually, for the database, doesn't matter which legacy systems you are connecting to it, as long as it collects the right information out of the system, you can still run legacy systems out there. You don't need to do a whole overhaul of your technology. So, that is, I think, one thing, thinking about your master customer database.

Nicole Zimmermann (20:04):

The other things are in that gap analysis that I was describing in terms of the closed loop customer management, really identifying where am I not collecting data that I have access to? And that is easily accessible, but I'm not collecting it. So, I give you an example related to the website.

Nicole Zimmermann (20:24):

The website performance goes not only into the analytics of user experience of how your customers or prospects are using your website, but there are tools in the background that can help you to really identify, like a heat map, where are your consumers or customers spending the most time on the page. Where are they following, where are they stopping, where are they falling off.

Nicole Zimmermann (20:52):

Like e-commerce platforms, they are now equipped with telling you abandoned rate of your shopping cart. And all these type of analytics are available also for financial institutions and banks in terms of really analyzing more in depth their customer across different channels. So, I would tap into the voice of the customer through customer service as well. Everyone who talks to customers.

Nicole Zimmermann (21:22):

So, I think it's more about, I'm a very visual person, so I usually like to draw on a big whiteboard, really the details of where is what type of information coming from and how can we centralize it, and how can we then look at how does this data then fit along the customer journey? And how can I then, based on that, really conclude in terms of what my best go-to strategy is.

Nicole Zimmermann (21:51):

Do I have everything to go after a new customer segment? Maybe I'm missing certain elements in my approach and in my product and service portfolio that today I can't yet address Gen Z or millennials. Maybe I need to think further about what does it take, and do I want this segment really? Or am I going after other segments?

Nicole Zimmermann (22:20):

In a very competitive environment like the financial services industry, you need to be smart in terms of your moves and where you pick. And sometimes it's a niche, sometimes it's not really the best approach to go broad across everything like the big banks can. Sometimes it's really doubling down on a niche.

Nicole Zimmermann (22:39):

Maybe it's your B2B customers as a regional credit union where you want to double down because you can serve them much better than maybe the mass marketing for consumers.

Nicole Zimmermann (22:50):

So, I think there are so many options and opportunities, but if you don't have that understanding based on the data and the analytics that your own information is telling you, it's hard to be strategic about where you place your bets and how you go about your strategy.

[Music Playing]

Jim Marous (23:10):

Great. So, let's take a short break here and recognize our partners.

Jim Marous (23:16):

Welcome back to Banking Transformed. So, I'm joined today by Nicole Zimmermann, founder, and CEO of ZELOCIN & Partners. We've been getting an insider's view into how financial institutions of all sizes can leverage customer data insights, modern technology, and marketplace trends to reach prospective and existing customers more effectively.

Jim Marous (23:37):

So, Nicole, can you share some examples of legacy financial institutions that have successfully transformed their branding and their messaging?

Nicole Zimmermann (23:47):

Yeah, so I think what I have seen across the board is really the bigger banks have — it's done really well. They have very early on understood that there is a threat from the fintechs and from the digital banks, the challenger banks as we call them in the industry as well coming.

Nicole Zimmermann (24:11):

And so, they have obviously used their vast investment and budgets to really combat that and go deep into understanding how do they stay relevant? What does their product portfolio and service portfolio really offer to the different customer segments and the changing customer behavior, how are they addressing it? They have been on top of that.

Nicole Zimmermann (24:40):

And I have to say, when I look at as a measure from an advertising lens, so who is actually the clearest in terms of their advertising, having translated customer needs and changing behaviors of consumers into brand messaging and brand positioning, I have to call out JPMorgan and Citibank.

Nicole Zimmermann (25:06):

Citibank just recently launched a new campaign, and I feel like they have opened that campaign really into addressing a broader customer and different customer segments that they want to go after.

Nicole Zimmermann (25:25):

They want to position themself as a big bank that can serve from the smallest needs of a money transfer between parents to fuel the wallet of their kits to really being a partner for business customers that are globally trading and need global payment solutions.

Nicole Zimmermann (25:46):

So, it's a very smart way of how they are in one, advertisement, bridging the gap between the different segments by messaging it in the right way, by not overloading the audience with messaging, but by clearly articulating, we have for many segments solutions that we can provide. And JPMorgan did the same years ago. And they are separating even some of the advertising to make it very use case specific.

Nicole Zimmermann (26:21):

So, when the depositing of checks electronically and online became a big thing through the mobile apps, they were one of the first ones going and presenting how easy they are making it for their customers and specifically addressing it to business customers to really deposit checks and don't need to wait in line in a bank branch and upgrading even their ATM systems so that checks can be deposited.

Nicole Zimmermann (26:56):

So, they found a multitude of ways for new use cases, and they are advertising this very clearly as a benefit. So, I think the bigger banks have definitely stepped up to the challenge. And I think the mid-tier to smaller banks need to probably think about what is this unique differentiator that they can bring forward.

Nicole Zimmermann (27:19):

And as we discussed before, it has to do with understanding your customers and what makes you unique as a bank and to your services. So, I think more going into that understanding of customer analytics and data still is relevant for them.

Jim Marous (27:37):

It's interesting, a brand-new campaign has come out from one of the organizations I know, PNC Bank. And it's interesting because anybody who listens to this podcast at any length or any duration, they realize that I have my challenges at time with PNC Bank.

Jim Marous (27:53):

I think on the good side, they're extraordinarily risk adverse and on the bad side sometimes that makes us, the customer may not be the first to be able to test new technologies or new applications of the financial institution industry. What’s interesting is their new campaigns called Brilliantly Boring.

Jim Marous (28:12):

And it made me laugh because I said they kind of nailed it. On one hand, I will tell people, If I'm going to invest in a financial institution, PNC would never be a challenge to invest in because you know they're not going to get into significant trouble.” And sometimes, as I said, that can be challenging to me when I want to use some modern services.

Jim Marous (28:31):

On the other hand, if you own your brand such as Brilliantly Boring, it helps employees and customers come to the conclusion that, "You know what, we may not be the first in the marketplace for certain things but we're going to do it really well with little surprises."

Jim Marous (28:48):

And as I said, I had to smile and laugh a little bit that I think they nailed it from a branding perspective as to how I view that organization.

Jim Marous (28:58):

So, there are pitfalls. Nothing goes as smoothly as we want it to go, no matter if we use an outside organization to help us with messaging and branding or if we don't. But what are some of the pitfalls banks need to avoid when undertaking a rebranding or a messaging overhaul?

Nicole Zimmermann (29:18):

So, while you were talking about PNC Bank, I was thinking about one of the latest rebranding’s of BMO. We have seen them across all channels, and I found it interesting that that bank conglomerate decided to use the simplest services that they are offering to highlight that that is their product portfolio.

Nicole Zimmermann (29:47):

I was like, "This is not a standout, if you come with a checking account or a savings account or a better interest rate on the savings account. Yeah, I mean, a lot of banks are doing this. So, in your rebranding, would you not like to rather go after what really makes you different?"

Nicole Zimmermann (30:04):

And so, I think your example is perfect, because while it's not maybe sexy and exciting from a marketing branding perspective but it is actually really how customers perceive the brand, and why not to say it out loud, there's nothing wrong with it.

Nicole Zimmermann (30:20):

Their customer service is probably much better than other banks because they pay attention to this. And so, I think you have a good point. There are some interesting examples of what can go wrong with rebranding.

Nicole Zimmermann (30:40):

But back to your question of pitfalls, I want to go back to what I said throughout our entire conversation. I think the voice of the customer is so important. If you do not understand as a brand, what your existing customers truly think about you, because they are also the ones who are talking to their friends. They talk to their business partners about your brand.

Nicole Zimmermann (31:07):

If you don't know what in essence these conversations are about, and you come with something totally disconnected, I think your rebranding will fail. And rebranding’s are very expensive because you need to be in there for the long-

Jim Marous (31:22):

You can't do it again really quickly. You can't change it.

Nicole Zimmermann (31:24):

Exactly. You are in for the long haul. So, if you make a decision to really rebrand, you better have understood what your existing customers think, what even prospect customers think about you that might say, "I will never bank with you.”

Nicole Zimmermann (31:42):

“Well, okay, but let me understand why you would never bank with me." That helps me as a bank as well. And others say, "Well, I would maybe consider you if this and this would happen."

Nicole Zimmermann (31:55):

So, the voice of the customer is the most powerful tool that any type of organization in any type of industry, it's not even only financial services, it’s really industry agnostic. The voice of the customer these days is the most important element to actually inform how your go-to market strategy, how your marketing and how your branding needs to look like.

Jim Marous (32:22):

You bring up a really interesting comment there with the voice of the customer of those that are not happy. We gather around the MPS scores and all these things that measure how much will people recommend us? But we're asking those who are still with us. So, obviously, they have some level of connection to us on the positive side.

Jim Marous (32:45):

Financial institutions do a much poorer job asking those people that have left what they thought, what made them leave. Now, what happens if a person complains, you get a gauge that way as to what the people that really got ticked off.

Jim Marous (32:59):

But when you look at simply people that left slowly, so to speak or left silently, those are the people that are really going to make a difference. Did they find what they wanted at a Chime or at a SoFi or some other organizations, non-traditional?

Jim Marous (33:15):

Did they find it from the big company across the street? Or likewise did they find it from the small community bank? Without that understanding, you can't know where the rebranding has to go and what has to address.

Nicole Zimmermann (33:30):

If you're only asking friends around you, you're going to get a much different response than you are if you get the people that maybe have left your friendship group. So, very interesting discussion on that.

Jim Marous (33:41):

One thing we also don't do well in the financial service industry, I'm not sure if it goes well in any industry, is actually measuring the success of rebranding and transformation. How can institutions measure the success of rebranding and market transformation?

Nicole Zimmermann (33:59):

That is probably one of the biggest challenges. As you know, marketing and marketeers are probably not known for their analytical skillset and so really being good with data is today really a critical skillset for marketeers. But I would say we have seen … I have been in this space with marketing for over now 28 years.

Nicole Zimmermann (34:32):

It is so crucial. And I always use this example, so some of your listeners will probably smile because they know the situation. So, you think about your marketing budget that is assigned to you at the beginning of the year, you have to have a conversation with your CFO or with your finance people.

Nicole Zimmermann (34:52):

If you are not able to tell them on the spot what return on investment each dollar contributes to the broader revenue growth story of the company, it will be harder to argue for more money. So, when you think about efforts like rebranding and digital transformation take time and they take money.

Nicole Zimmermann (35:17):

So, when we think about it, measurement becomes even more crucial because you need to make sure that in an easy setup, which we call the central dashboard, you can actually explain along the customer journey what is happening.

Nicole Zimmermann (35:36):

I mean, everyone in marketing knows the marketing funnel. So, do you have all data and KPIs along your marketing funnel? Do you know what your brand awareness is, top of the funnel? Do you know your middle of the funnel when you start to engage from a lead generation? How fast you are bringing prospects through your funnel? When you close, when you hand over to sales, or when you close online through e-commerce, whatever it is.

Nicole Zimmermann (36:07):

These type of data reference points become really, really critical to make sure that you have a good investment story to tell. Because there's always competition about budget in corporations and organizations and so marketing needs to really be at the top of this game as well.

Nicole Zimmermann (36:26):

And again, as I said before, we have the access to this data, we just need to make sure we collect it, centralize it, and really conclude on it, what is it telling us? Not only from a brand positioning and competitive advantage perspective, but also from a budgeting and investment perspective. Where's my return? How fast can I actually get a return on investment?

Nicole Zimmermann (36:53):

So, I would say, definitely rebranding is probably one of the biggest challenges a marketeer can face in terms of task in a marketing career because it has a lot of components that have nothing to do with customer experience, brand positioning, has to do with your financial acumen and background. Your analytical skillset actually to make a fact-based story and pitch for the money that you need to go through a rebranding.

Jim Marous (37:34):

So, the final question is going to be an interesting one because when we look at rebrand, we look at customer communications and outgoing marketing communications, we often talk about the customer experience, but more and more organizations are realizing that they have to adjust their culture, and it's just as important to make sure that the rebranding actually makes a better employee experience.

Jim Marous (37:58):

What's your perspective on that, the importance of the employee experience as part of the overall rebranding and marketing communication efforts?

Nicole Zimmermann (38:07):

I think it's really critical. When you think about change in an organization, when you think about an organization gets into a position where it's threatened by new competitive players coming into the space or new customer segments that you have not yet entered, I think employees play a critical role.

Nicole Zimmermann (38:34):

One, because they might be actually the representative of a new customer segment. They might be the younger generation. They know how they bank, they know what they want to see from their bank. So, they are a vital internal data reference point for you to tap into as one.

Nicole Zimmermann (38:54):

The other point is definitely as I said before, from a transformation perspective and change management perspective, if your employees are not excited about that change, about that rebranding, about that digital transformation efforts and really understand why they have to go on this change journey with you, you will have reluctancy. You will have people, employees, that are not engaged. And it makes it so much harder then to rally the troops to really accomplish those big hairy goals.

Nicole Zimmermann (39:32):

And so, in my experience specifically with the digital transformation of Western Union and the rebranding of Western Union Business Solutions that I was responsible for, I learned that without an engaged team and an engaged employee base, it's like an uphill battle. It's the typical Sisyphus work. You make a little bit progress and then you fail and then you roll back, and you need to restart.

Nicole Zimmermann (40:05):

And so, I think at the center of any type of transformation, business transformation, digital transformation, brand transformation, marketing transformation should be the employee experience and the employee engagement.

Nicole Zimmermann (40:20):

And we are marketeers, we are good with telling stories, we are good with communicating. So, tapping into our skillset, not only towards the customer outside, but actually the customer insight, which is the employee is as important as the outward looking messaging.

Nicole Zimmermann (40:39):

And so, I think in that combination, we can tap into our existing skillsets and make it just easier for us to accomplish something and drive something successfully over the finish line.

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Jim Marous (40:52):

Nicole, thank you so much for being on the show today. I really appreciate your insights and the references to some of the companies you've worked in in the past. I think marketers have their hands full, there's no doubt about it.

Jim Marous (41:04):

But I think that we as an industry really have to look at how do we differentiate our brands? How do we really get the message out and as you've mentioned, how do we include our employees in the whole journey? Thank you so much for being on the show.

Nicole Zimmermann (41:19):

Thank you for having me today, Jim. Appreciate it.

Jim Marous (41:23):

Thanks for listening to Banking Transformed, the top podcast in retail banking and the winner of three international awards for podcast excellence. We appreciate the support we have received to make this endeavor a success.

Jim Marous (41:33):

If you enjoy what we're doing, please take some time to show some love in the form of a review, and feel free to pass this podcast onto others within your organization where they may learn some more about what's going on in the banking industry today.

Jim Marous (41:46):

Finally, be sure to catch my recent articles on The Financial Brand and check out the recent research we're doing for the Digital Banking Report. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcasts. A special thank you to our senior producer, Leah Haslage, audio engineer, Chris Fafalios and video producer, Will Pritts.

Jim Marous (42:03):

If you've not already done so, remember to subscribe to Banking Transformed on both your favorite podcast app and on YouTube for more thought-provoking discussions on the intersection of finance, technology, and leadership. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, keep innovating and transforming your organization.

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